Abstract

Achieving sustainable development in different regional and cultural contexts is dependent, in part, upon an understanding of key actors’ underlying environmental, social and economic values. The social research technique called Q-methodology presents an effective means to explore such values as a matter of discourse: revealing the typologies of stakeholder perspectives within a given debate. Q-method involves factor analysis of participant rank-ordered preselected statements on a topic. The resultant factors are then reinterpreted as social discourses. In this study we use Q-methodology to explore the environmental values of Health Safety and Environmental (HSE) managers in petrochemical companies in Khuzestan province in southwest Iran. Khuzestan is a key region of petrochemical product development, with significant associated environmental pollution effects. Understanding HSE managers’ attitudes to environmental protection is of value in predicting broader environmental impacts to the region, given the relative importance of their role in regulating the environmental performance of this industry. Our results reveal four distinct and varied perspectives on environmental protection labelled: ‘Environmental stewardship’, ‘Environmental presentism’, ‘Technological optimism’ and ‘Enlightened anthropocentrism’. We then discuss how these four emergent perspectives correspond to broader environmental discourses as categorized by John Dryzek: i.e. green rationalism, economic rationalism, prometheanism and ecological modernization respectively.

Abstract

The soil contaminated with petroleum products must be excluded from the crops and treated to reclamation processes. Natural processes of decomposition of hydrocarbon compounds go very slow, so it is necessary to use bioaugumentation or stimulation in order to accelerate the return of the soil to high culture. In this study the effect of hydrogen peroxide on the process of cleaning soil strongly contaminated with pertochemicals was investigated. For this purpose, a pot experiment lasting 60 days was carried. The dynamics of changes in the population of filamentous fungi, yeasts and bacteria were examined and also content of aliphatic hydrocarbons (n-alkanes), monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Experimental use of hydrogen peroxide in the process of biodegradation of petroleum compounds assisted in the analyzed soil led to an increase of the number of grampositive bacteria during the test. Stimulation of oil products biodegradation by hydrogen peroxide also increased by 35% decomposition efficiency of aliphatic hydrocarbons (C8-C40) and about 50% PAH’s in comparison to control samples without hydrogen peroxide. There was no influence of hydrogen peroxide on the content of monoaromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) with respect to controls, although in the end of experiment, the total concentration decreased by about 50% compared to the initial content.

An Introduction to the Capital Market of a Leading Petrochemical Company in Croatia: Case Study

The Croatian company under state ownership that underwent the process of an introduction to the capital market was the leading regional petrochemical company, INA Oil Industry. The process of introduction to the capital market started in 2006 when the Croatian government announced that it will sell 15% of INA shares to small investors, Croatian citizens with some pre - emptive rights and under special conditions. In the text, the authors describe the short-term and long-term performance of shares, factors that influence the perception of privatized companies and the phenomenon of underpricing of shareholder issues. Finally, the introduction to the capital market of INA shares is briefly presented as a case study. This paper reports the research results of a survey of the perception of INA company and of the introduction to the capital market of INA's shares by the potential small investors and the influence of those perceptions on stock purchase motivation.

Abstract

An approach to modelling of non-stationary catalytic processes of oil refining and petrochemistry is proposed. The computer modelling systems under development take into account the physical and chemical reaction laws, raw materials composition, and catalyst nature. This allows using the software for the optimization of process conditions and equipment design. The models created can be applied for solving complex problems of chemical reactors design; calculation of different variants of industrial plants reconstruction; refining and petrochemicals catalysts selection and testing; catalyst service life prolongation; determination of optimum water supply into the alkanes dehydrogenation reactor; optimization of products separation in the benzene alkylation process.